The Jesuit Quiz Bowl team competed at the 2015 NTAE. Pictured are (standing, from left) Coach Ron Rossie, senior Sam Zeldon, junior Anthony Stoner, (seated, from left) juniors Preston Warwick and D.J. Ogbomah.

Jesuit Quiz Bowl teams reached the final rounds of the 2015 National Academic Challenge (New Orleans Phase) and the 2015 National Tournament for Academic Excellence (NTAE) in Disney World.

Jesuit entered the National Academic Challenge as the defending varsity champions. Three Blue Jay teams – two varsity and one JV  – competed in the New Orleans Phase over the Memorial Day weekend. The all-freshmen JV team, composed of captain Robert Cerise, Manuel Molina, Eddie Redmann, and Caleb Rogers, went undefeated into the finals but lost on the last question. Varsity Team A, composed of seniors Sam Zelden (captain) and Patrick Fine and joined by juniors D.J. Ogbomah and Anthony Stoner, were seeded 8th after two days of preliminary competition and made it to the quarterfinals before being defeated by the No. 1 seed. Varsity Team B, composed of junior Stephen Owers and sophomores Mitchell Barras, Will Fine (captain), Andrew Souther and Preston Warwick, went 3-3.

After this competition, the Jays were invited to compete again to represent Louisiana in the NTAE national tournament held in Disney World in mid June. In this tournament numerous teams each representing a state compete against each other at the same time in several two-hour contests. Over three days of competition the field is narrowed to six teams in the finals.

Coach Ron Rossi accompanied the team of senior Sam Zelden (captain) and juniors Anthony Stony, D.J. Ogbomah, and Preston Warwick who reached the NTAE finals, repeating the accomplishment of last year’s team. Stoner earned a spot on the six-man NTAE All America Academic team, winning a scholarship and a trophy.